Work in progress

THE first three decades of Melbourne architects SJB are told in a newly published history of the firm, SJB: The Story So Far, written by Stephen Crafti. It gives an overview of the firm's development, discusses individual projects in depth, and profiles the company's contributors. Architects Alan Synman, Charles Justin and Michael Bialek, all graduates of Melbourne University, founded the company in 1976 - on April 1, ''April Fool's Day'', as Mr Synman notes in the introduction - with three principals and an employee. The book details the firm's early forays into residential architecture before it branched out into the commercial sphere in the late 1970s with a toy store in Middle Brighton. Former state Labor planning minister Justin Madden has written the foreword. Mr Madden, who worked with SJB as a fledgling architect, writes: ''SJB is about creating beautiful inspiring places and spaces, contributing to the liveability and viability of the immediate … realm.''